No Prescription Necessary

“Their deadly efficiency also makes them ideal for sale online. Unlike heroin and prescription painkillers, which are relatively bulky, enough fentanyl to get nearly 50,000 people high can fit in a standard first-class envelope.” As the NYT reports, that is one of the several reasons why opioid dealers have embraced the dark web.

+ “The police in Arlington, Mass., intervene with vulnerable users. Officials in Everett, Wash., have sued a pharmaceutical firm that they say created a black market for addicts. Seattle’s officers give low-level drug and prostitution suspects a choice: treatment instead of arrest and jail.” Also from the NYT: When Opioid Addicts Find an Ally in Blue. One of the interesting aspects to note is the different way the opiate disaster (a more white/rural problem) is being treated by law enforcement, as opposed to the way police and prosecutors dealt with the (more urban/black) crack epidemic. For some excellent background on this topic, don’t miss the documentary: 13th.

+ WaPo: Jeff Sessions personally asked Congress to let him prosecute medical marijuana providers.